


Anubico Oneshots Series

by LapisLazuli13



Series: My Other X-Nico fictions [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Kane Chronicles - Rick Riordan
Genre: Anubico, Anubis is so sarcastic too, Awesome Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Doppelganger, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I don't regret writing this, I'm Not Ashamed, M/M, Nico is a sarcastic little shit, Original Character(s), crack ship, i'm going down with this ship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-02-28 08:14:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13267365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LapisLazuli13/pseuds/LapisLazuli13
Summary: I have this crack ship since the moment I read an Anubis/ Nico fiction and I immediately fell in love with this couple. I'm not too creative at choosing a title so please bear with me. And we really need more Anubico in this world because those two dorks are as lovely as Solangelo and Jasico in my heart.





	1. You're not my doppelgänger, are you?

**Author's Note:**

> Guys, please read and review. I know this ship doesn't have too many people on it so please give me kudos and tell me your opinion! I love reading your reviews and trying your prompts!

##  _**1, You’re not my doppelgänger, are you?** _

…

Nico has heard about the definition of a doppelgänger, but he doesn’t really pay attention to it because the idea of meeting someone whose an identical appearance to him is kind of… weird. When most of the people are excited about their possible chances to meet their doppelgänger, Nico just wants to ignore that. He doesn’t need to meet someone looks exactly like him and he doesn’t know what should he do in this case either.

But well, since he found out he is a demigod, the fate just kind of hates him a little bit too much.

***

It’s a winter day, and Nico is in a graveyard. He likes those places in winters, they’re covered in white snow and they look so pure and peaceful. The cold never bothers him, as a son of Hades, he already has lower body temperature than a normal human and he also could control the atmosphere around him a little bit. When he’s really angry, he could change the temperature down to semi-arctic state and it’s kind of terrifying.

The young man appears when he is talking to a local ghost, to ask him where they sell the best lasagna in this city. He suddenly wants to eat it, that’s all. He startles slightly when suddenly someone raises their voice. “No, it’s not the best restaurant in this city, believe me.”

Nico immediately draws his sword and points at the stranger. The fact that he doesn’t sense the approach of this man makes him raise his guard. But when he looks at the other, his mouth falls open and he gasps dramatically.

The man is like an older version of him, still skinny and dresses in all black. He has slightly shorter hair than Nico’s, but his skin is pale and almost semi-transparent, it glows faintly in an eerie way. His eyes are melted chocolate and they’re warm and cold at the same time and Nico really doesn’t understand why do they look like that. He is wearing a black T-shirt, tight jeans, combat boots and a leather jacket. The similarities make Nico feel stunned. He doesn’t know how to react, so he just freezes at his place.

“Put down your sword. It couldn’t do me any harm, I’m a God.” The man says, and Nico wordlessly lowers his arm. His eyes scrutinize the man skeptically and he receives a lazy smile in return. “It’s strange. You’re alive, but you radiate death almost like a corpse.”

“You could sense my death aura?” Nico asks, and the stranger nods, doesn’t break their eye-contact.

“My expertise relates to death, so yes, I could sense it pretty well. What are you?”

Nico notices the odd way the other uses his phrases and words. It’s not _Who_ , it’s _What_ , so the man doesn’t ask about his identity. He asks for information about his species, his parentage, his abilities.

“I’m a demigod, a son of Hades – the God of the Underworld,” Nico cautiously replies, his eyes travel to the other’s combat boots. They look expensive and unique. “And you?”

“As I told you, I’m a God. God of death and funeral in Egyptian Myth, to be more specific.” The man winks at Nico, even his grin looks so alike to him. Nico cannot decide if he likes that striking resemblance or not. At least the man looks handsome in a cold, dangerous way, and if this is Nico in some more years, he doesn’t complain.

Nico thinks for a while. “You’re Anubis. I know you. I have learned about the other Death Gods as well.”

“Very good. You’re an educated boy,” Anubis compliments him. “Not so many people could recognize me that fast. I’m not a very famous God, after all.”

“May I ask what are you doing here in the first place?” Nico changes the topic of their conversation. He is a little bit curious, sue him, but how can you not curious about what is a god doing in the mortal world? They do not usually wander in this place, especially those ones who relate to death.

“Visiting one of my favourite graveyards,” Anubis shrugs. “All the graveyards on Earth are my territories. My strength gets strongest at those places, they’re literally filled with death aura after all.”

“And what about the comment of not-the-best-restaurant?” Nico smiles, amusement sparkling in his eyes. If the God knows this place so well, maybe he could ask something from him.

“I ate in there twice, and I don’t really like the food there,” Anubis grins. “I could show you better places if you allow me.”

“My pleasure.” Nico thinks it’s not hurt hanging out and eating with a death God for once. At least this time he isn’t alone or has companies are ghosts.

…

Anubis is right about the food. Lasagna at the place he takes Nico to is really delicious. Nico eats to the second plate and it’s quite a little bit too much compares to his normal appetite, but it’s okay to overeat sometimes.

Anubis doesn’t talk much during their meal together. He just orders an orange juice and a black coffee, and he sits there watching Nico eats for the whole time with a fond smile on his face. Nico tries to not read it as any kind of affection.

“You have a cute face when you’re eating,” Anubis comments when he finishes his second plate with a relieved sigh. “I like your face, though.”

“Sorry, but even without a mirror I still can tell we have almost identical facial structures, so your liking for my face sounds a little bit too narcissistic to me.” Nico raises an eyebrow, hopes that the other doesn’t notice his cheeks are reddening. He could blame it on the spicy food, he tells himself that as a pray.

“Well, it’s true that you look like a smaller and younger version of me,” Anubis smirks. “And a very adorable version to be honest. Don’t get me wrong, I do not love myself that much. But I admit that I do have a handsome face. If I take a younger appearance, I may look like your identical twin, Nico. Do you want me to change my appearance?”

“I’m not really interested in that idea, in case you haven’t noticed,” Nico snorts. He looks at his face in the mirror every morning and night, so no thanks, he really doesn’t need to look at it on another person’s face. “And what’s wrong with people these days? You’re not the first one told me that I’m cute or adorable, and I swear I’m not. I’m the Ghost King, I’m scary.”

“You look as scary and terrifying as a harmless kitten, Nico.” The God chuckles and Nico decides no, it doesn’t matter how good-looking Anubis is, he still wants to break his nose right at this moment.

“I guess it’s time for me to come back to Camp,” Nico rolls his eyes. “Thanks for the meal, I really like the food.”

“It’s nothing,” Anubis smiles at him. “We’ll meet again, kitten.”

“Call me by this nickname one more time and I don’t care if you’re a God or not, you’ll sure have a broken nose.” Nico groans when he stands up and walks out of the restaurant.

“You’re so feisty,” The Egyptian God grins widely. “I like it. Your personality is even more interesting than your appearance.”

“Goodbye, Anubis.” Nico deliberately ignores the God’s comment when he finds a good shadow to start his trip.

“Bye, _kitten._ ”

Before his world becomes totally black, Nico still can see the mischievous smirk on Anubis’ face and he makes a mental note to at least try to strangle the God if they meet the second time.

***

The next time they meet happens only two weeks later.

It’s still in the middle of the winter and Jason somehow convinced Dionysus to let snow fall inside the Camp for a week, so everything is covered with a thin layer of snow now. Nico really likes the sight and one of his favourite new hobbies is sitting on the roof of his cabin and watching the Apollo kids get too enthusiastic about their newest game: snowballs throwing. Seriously, their accuracy is really great.

“Be careful, you could fall down and break one of your limbs if you laugh too hard.” A voice suddenly raises and Nico nearly falls down before he could get his balance back.

“Why are you here?” He asks with annoyance drips in his voice when he sees Anubis. The God is dressing in his normal outfit – if he dressed in his normal outfit in their first time meeting – all black style with T-shirt, leather jacket, tight jeans, combat boots and a black scarf with white snowflakes wraps around his neck and shoulders. “You’re an Egyptian God. You’re not supposed to be at a Greek demigods’ Camp.”

“I could be at anywhere I want,” Anubis snorts arrogantly. “And now I want to be with you, so I’m here.”

That definitely doesn’t sound like a confession or flirting at all.

“This isn’t a graveyard. The death aura in here isn’t too much. It’s too lively for a Death God like you though.” Nico shrugs and comes back to watch the intense match between the Apollo kids and the Ares kids.

“I’m a God, I don’t really need to depend on the environment around me to keep my solid body exist.” Anubis flashes him a wide grin and Nico wonders if it is how he looks like when he could smile so bright and care-free.

“Good to know that,” He replies and gestures to the space next to him. “Take a seat if you want. I don’t bite.”

“My other form is a jackal. This should be my sentence to say,” Anubis laughs and sits down next to Nico. “And I don’t want to be bitten. I only take bites in special cases.”

Nico decides that no, he doesn’t want to know what are those special cases. He says instead. “You don’t have anything to do at this moment?”

“I always have something to do. People don’t have some exact moments to not die so I can take a real break,” The God snorts. “But I’m a God and I can appear in many places at one time and right at this moment, this form is sitting with you and have nothing to do at all.”

“I see.” Actually, the ability to appear in many places at one time is convenient. Nico’s shadow-traveling only gives him advantages of wasting almost no time to move from places to places, but how it makes him feel totally worn out after using is a huge drawback.

“Your friends look like they’re having fun,” Anubis comments after a moment of silence. “Why don’t you join them?”

“I don’t really want to get a snowball targets on my face,” He shrugs. “Besides, watching is more fun than actually playing. It’s exhausted.”

“You could summon some skeletons and let them make snowballs for you, you know,” Anubis doesn’t drop the topic. “Controlling the dead is a convenient skill. You should know how to put it to good use.”

“Thanks, I’ll think about this.” Nico nods, his eyes don’t move away from the fight.

“Hey, di Angelo! Come down here and join us, you look lonely up there!” A blond boy shouts when he looks up at the roof, a wide grin crosses his face. “You should have some fun, this winter inside camp doesn’t last long!”

“No, I prefer watching you get your ass be kicked from here,” Nico smirks. “Thanks for the offer, Will.”

“You sarcastic little ass!” Will shakes his head and comes back to their fight when a snowball hits him on his back. He immediately spots the culprit and yells loudly. “You’re so dead, Travis Stoll!”

Nico just laughs at his friend’s face when Will makes a really huge snowball and chases after the son of Hermes.

“You’re really a sarcastic little ass, you know that?” Anubis chuckles with amusement. “Laughing at other’s misery is quite devilish, Nico. Even though your cheeky side is really cute, so not that I’m complaining.”

“Shut up or I’ll personally bury you under the heavy snow,” Nico glares at Anubis before looking away, a thought crosses his mind. “Will said I look lonely at here but you’re sitting right beside me. He didn’t see you, did he?”

“I use some magic to hide my existence,” Anubis nods. “Only you can see me now. You can count it as a privilege.”

“Thanks, I feel so blessed.” Nico retorts with a smirk.

“Don’t think I can’t spot a sarcasm when I hear it. I’m not stupid.”

“Despite we have striking similarities, your personality isn’t really like me,” Nico looks at Anubis with thoughtful eyes. “You’re not so fun when you rarely say sarcasm or enjoy them.”

“So that’s it? You like mischievous boys better?” Anubis smirks and an unreadable expression crosses his face when amusement is sparkling in his chocolate brown eyes. “Alright, I can change to be suitable for your type. I won’t be another Percy though, so please don’t get your hope up.”

“I don’t want another Percy in my life either,” Nico scowls. “And what do you mean by to be suitable for my type? I don’t exactly have a type.”

“I guess Percy doesn’t think so.”

“It’s just something I said to him to make clear that I’m over him,” The demigod snorts. “And wait a minute. Why do you know that?” He observes the god suspiciously.

“I’m a god, Nico. I know almost everything if I really want to get the information,” Anubis says proudly and Nico opts to not argue about this particular issue. “And poor boy. You’re over him, but he will never get over the fact that he isn’t your type, which in the case you’re telling me the truth, doesn’t even exist.”

“It’s not my business to worry about, so I don’t care.”

“So cold-hearted,” Anubis cackles. “And this side of you is really appealing, though.”

“Now I remember my mental note last time,” Nico glares at Anubis dangerously. “I promise myself to strangle you the next time we meet.”

“I’m scared for my life now.” The god puts a hand on his chest and Nico decides that okay, he has had enough of this shit.

Fifteen minutes later, his attempt to strangle Anubis with his own scarf is failed, but they switch into a tickle fight and he finds out the god is really tickling, so he guesses it still could count as a small victory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm writing part 2, but I think I have to update my other fictions before I could come back to this.


	2. You’re not my doppelgänger, are you? (2)

##  _**2, You’re not my doppelgänger, are you? (2)** _

…

The next time, Anubis suddenly appears when Nico is on a quest with two unexperienced demigods.

Well, to be exact, he isn’t originally chosen for this quest. But he needs to rescue them because those two idiots with hero-complex decided that no, they couldn’t only find the golden egg in the quest, they needed to kill the monster which protects the egg too.

Unfortunately, that monster is a dragon. Dragons are famous for their short-tempered and they’re really terrifying when they’re provoked.

Taking a dragon’s scale clearly doesn’t do any of them even just one favour. Those two fools were so close to being burned to ashes when Nico found them. And now they’re inside a cave underground and he’s injured badly when he tried to protect the younger demigods from a hot breath of the dragon. He doesn’t have enough energy to shadow-travel all of them back to Camp right now and his sword arm is broken. They don’t even have enough material to make an IM. Everything is so great.

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry!” The boy is crying and repeating sorry for about two thousand, eight hundreds and twenty-four times and Nico really wants to find a tape and zip his lips together before he could die from a goddamn headache. The girl is really quiet – thank the gods – but she looks so close to passing out that he’s more worry for her health than his own sake.

“You’re not really in a good situation. You look awful, actually.” That’s the first thing Anubis tells him when he materializes from the air.

“Thanks for pointing out something that I already knew,” Nico groans. “What are you doing here? You must be very busy doing your job, you shouldn’t spend time wandering in mortals world like this.”

“Who is him, Nico?” The girl asks, her voice is so fragile and soft. “He looks so similar to you. Is he your doppelgänger?”

“No. He’s an Egyptian god named Anubis,” Nico snorts when the idea of doppelgängers suddenly comes to his mind, and it only makes his headache worse. “A certificated douchebag if you ask for my honest opinion.”

“He looks nice though,” The boy finally stops his endless string of sorry. “He’s a god from another myth? How can we see each other? What’s his expertise and abilities?”

“Does he control the death and shadow-travel like you?” The girl questions and Nico cannot understand why she has the audacity to sound _excited_ at this moment. “You two have such striking resemblance. I’m stunned. He looks like an older version of you and you’re lucky if you grow up to look like him. He’s handsome.”

Anubis grins widely at this and Nico groans impatiently, his voice was full of irritation. “Thanks for asking a ton of questions when I’m actively dying, Stella. And no, Andy, please shut your mouth up before you start to apologize again. I could die from a goddamn headache before I’m bleeding out.”

“You’re so optimistic, like a little ray of sunshine,” Anubis chuckles and sits down next to Nico and pokes his cheek. “But I like this side of you too. You’re really appealing when you’re angry. So alluring and enticing.” He pokes Nico’s cheeks some more, seems oddly satisfying with his actions.

“Good to know I’m insanely attractive when I’m badly injured and slowly dying,” Nico mocks and glares deadly at Anubis, slaps his hand away. “If you can’t do anything for us in this situation, please go away. Seeing your face is the last thing I want to do right now.”

Stella gasps dramatically and she almost yells with a higher-than-normal-an-octave voice. “How could you speak like this to a god, Nico? It’s so rude!”

“Actually I really love it when you look so vulnerable like this,” Anubis deliberately ignores Nico’s unfriendly attitude and Stella’s worry when he continues. “But it’s not very pleasing when you’re in danger. So I’ll offer some help, but I want something in return.”

“Why am I not surprised to hear this? Oh wow, you’re a god after all. That’s your nature.” Nico doesn’t even try to hide his contempt action when he rolls his eyes.

“Do you want my help or not?” Anubis crosses his arms over his chest, a smug smile dancing on his lips. “Because to be honest, you can’t get your sorry ass and those two kids back to Camp without any further injuries and you’re so close to passing out at any moment, I guess you could feel that.”

Nico could see Andy and Stella are watching their heated conversation with their mouths widely fall open, but he couldn’t care less.

“Feeling my life force’s slowly weakening is a very charming experience, thanks for caring,” he can’t stop making sarcastic comments even though he knows the more time he let the situation continue, the less chance they could get out of here safely. “What are your conditions? I only take three at most, for your information.”

“I’ll tell you later when I’m finally done thinking about them. Deal?”

“I’ve done too many insanely self-sacrificing stuff in my life, so why not one more time?” Nico weakly smirks. “Deal.”

Anubis gave him a satisfied nod and stands up. “I’ll lend you my strength to make a jump through your shadow. I’ll protect the three of you from the dragon’s wrath when we go out and take that egg, too. Don’t worry, I’m the god of death so I know when you’re close to dying and when you’re not.”

Andy and Stella quietly nod at him and Nico tries to not roll his eyes again. He still needs Anubis’ help so it’s kind of rude not listening to the god’s orders.

…

They get away from the dragon safely and they take the egg back to Camp when Anubis holds Nico’s hand tightly and he feels a wave of strength sweep through his own body. He makes a fine jump and Andy with Stella immediately let go of his and Anubis’ hands when their feet touch the solid ground. They look like they want to throw up, but they still weakly smile at them and say thanks before they run away, leave Nico alone with the Egyptian god and the responsibility to report the quest to Chiron. Nico groans, very great, kids these days.

Nico collapses on the floor right after the moment he comes back to his Cabin. His head is aching and clouded with pain and he feels his skin’s burning even though they’re too pale and cold from the blood loss.

“You need to come to the infirmary, you know,” Anubis’ voice is full of concern. “You’re in a very bad condition, your life force is flickering.”

“No, thanks,” Nico snorts. “Some ambrosia and unicorn draught and I’ll be fine after a deep sleep.”

“You’re very stubborn, do you know that? And you have almost no self-preservation at all.” The Death God rolls his eyes and sighs in frustration.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” The half-Italian boy weakly smiles.

“It’s supposed to be an insult.”

“Not in my opinion,” Nico retorts and he coughs when his lungs are itching and burning from inside. He covers his mouth with one hand and when he takes it back, there’s a lot of blood on his skin. “Wow, I may have some internal injuries too. Great.”

“That’s it,” Anubis scowls when he observing the other with an intense gaze. “My first order: Let me treat your injuries if you don’t want to go to the infirmary.”

“That doesn’t really sound like an order,” Nico snorts irritatingly. “Are you sure? It’s more like a burden for you than a favour you can get from me.”

“You promise to do any three things I want. That’s the first thing and I don’t care how does it sound.”

“… Fine,” The demigod sees no point in arguing with Anubis so he sighs in defeat. “What do you want me to do?”

“Take off your shirt and let me check the injuries.”

Nico obeys and slowly takes off his shirt. He sits down on his bed when Anubis takes one of his arms and starts to examine it carefully. He frowns even at the slightest scratch and shakes his head several times during the process, mumbling something like “idiot” and “stubborn kid”. When he finishes, he takes Nico’s other arm and after that, he sits down and his hands start to touch Nico’s bare shoulders, chest, and back.

It’s an agonizingly slow process and Nico’s suddenly very aware of how skinny he is. He usually doesn’t care much about his appearance, especially his naked form because he doesn’t have the intention to show his body to anyone else soon. But when he’s naked like this in front of a god that looks like his doppelgänger and he could feel the other’s muscles under his own black shirt are so strong and toned in all right places, he suddenly feels so embarrassed that he just wants to open the ground to let it swallow him whole down at this moment.

The ground is shaking slightly in response to the son of Hades’ emotions and the frown between Anubis’ eyebrows gets deeper. “Don’t use your powers right now! Do you really want to die that much?! You barely have any strength left, Nico!”

“Sorry, sometimes my powers get out of control a little bit.” Nico mumbles and his cheeks grow hotter at Anubis’ intense gaze when the god’s fingers are touching his abdomen. He has a second-degree burn at this place and the skin is red, slightly blistered and very itching. Anubis sighs quietly when he holds a hand over the injury and a golden light starts to glow from his hand. Nico could feel its warmth and his skin is slowly healing. The red color of the injury fades away and the itching feeling decreases after every second passes. When Anubis finishes, his skin looks as pale as normal and he can’t see even just a minor skin damage anymore.

Anubis’ hand moves to some superficial burns and a bleeding scratch on his chest and the glowing light is flowing from his own hand right now. The light is so calm and soothing, Nico loves its warmth and comforting effect so much. He closes his eyes and enjoys the process when the other patiently treats his injuries one by one. Sometimes Anubis stops and lets him take a small amount of ambrosia or unicorn draught since the god isn’t very familiar with those things.

Half of an hour later, the death god finishes his treatment. Nico can’t see any injury on his skin now and he feels a lot better. He doesn’t want to cough out blood anymore and he guesses his internal injuries are disappeared as well. But when he opens his eyes, he gasps in surprise at Anubis’ translucent skin. The ghostly white glow looks even eerier on his skin now and his face is as white as chalk, sweat covers his forehead. He looks groggy and Nico immediately stands up and grabs one of Anubis’ arms when moves his other arm to the god’s back to hold him still.

“For Hades’ sake, you look like you’re going to pass out and that’s so bad because I know you’re a god!” Nico scowls at the sight and helps Anubis slowly sit down. “What’s wrong, Anubis?”

“Well, to be honest, healing isn’t my biggest strength. It’s more like my weakness since I’m one of the Death Gods and my realm of power is connected with the death, not the living.” Anubis offers Nico a faint smile and his scowl just gets deeper.

“So why did you so insist on getting me agree to let you heal me then?” The demigod sighs heavily, tries to not notice the worrisome light glows from the other’s skin. “You idiot jackal.”

“I just want to do it,” Anubis shrugs nonchalantly. “And I only ignore your rudeness because you’re adorable, but don’t abuse your privileges.”

“Geez,” Nico sticks out his tongue at the god. “I told you I’m not cute, but that’s not the point now. Do you want anything to make you feel better?”

“I’m a Death God, what kinds of things can make me feel better?” The Egyptian winks at the smaller boy.

“Something that a normal patient would never want,” Nico chuckles. “I’ll shadow-travel both of us to a graveyard. You can choose the destiny and it’d better still inside America. I won’t want to risk the chances since I got a good treatment but I’m not really well-rested.”

“Cemetario de Colon, La Habana.” The Egyptian God immediately replies him with a smirk, and even he looks so sickly pale now, Nico still feels an urgent need to break his nose and brutally wipe away his smug smile.

“Which parts of _‘still inside America’_ that you can’t understand?” The half-Italian boy scowls.

“That graveyard is beautiful. And c’mon, it’s not too far. I know you can make it.” Anubis winks and Nico groans in irritation.

“Fine. Take my hand, if I drop you in the middle of the trip I won’t take any responsibility.”

…

They end up inside Cemetario de Colon. The time-zone here is different, so it’s late afternoon and it’s almost night. The dark blue sky is slowly changing to black after every minute and stars start to shine. The moonlight drips through thin layers of leaves, bathing them in a cool and slightly shining light. Anubis looks more like a plaster statue under the night of La Habana, his skin is still semi-transparent, but he doesn’t look as sick as before. Maybe the death aura here really does a good job to him.

“Look around, Nico. The statues at here are beautiful.” Anubis tells him and Nico sighs while slightly shakes his head.

“How could I have the mind to enjoy a sightseeing tour when you still look unhealthy like this? Those statues could wait until you get better.”

“I already got a lot better,” Anubis snorts. “And since I’m basically an immortal god, you don’t really need to worry about my health, even though it’s so touching that you do, don’t get me wrong. And I’m also the embodiment of death, it’s normal for me to look like death sometimes.”

“Now I wonder why didn’t I just ignore you in the first place,” Nico mumbles when he realizes that he was worried for almost no reason at all. “So I can avoid all the complexity in dealing with a god that looks like an irresponsible teenager and also an idiot.”

“I think I already told you that I ignore your rudeness because you’re cute, but you shouldn’t abuse your privileges.”

“I really don’t think that’s my privileges.”

“You’re nobody to judge if I give someone any privilege or not,” Anubis mumbles. “Now I’m wondering should I waste another order on the same day or not, but there’s something I really want to tell you.”

“Just say it.” Nico feels a little bit curious at Anubis’ unreadable expression.

“The moonlight is beautiful.” The god says nonchalantly and Nico can’t stop himself from rolling his eyes.

“I’m not blind.”

“You don’t understand the atmosphere at all,” the Egyptian God sighs and grabs Nico’s arm to pull him closer to his body. “Come here, you little confused macaroni.”

“I’m not…” Nico protests, but before he could finish his sentence, his eyes widen because of the feeling of soft lips lightly touch his own.

Anubis’ left arm slowly hold around Nico’s waist when his right arm lifts up, his fingers run through the smaller boy’s dark hair, gently caresses those long curls.

The kiss lasts only five seconds, and when Anubis releases the demigod, he looks more confused than ever.

“What… did you just…?” Nico splutters out, his eyes are as big as two cherries now and Anubis thinks that expression is quite cute, really.

“I kissed you,” the Egyptian God grins. “And damn, it feels good. Amazing. And I didn’t lose any order for that kiss, so that’s a win for me.”

“… I… We’re not in a damn competition, you jerk!” Nico angrily hisses and Anubis looks quite surprised.

“Not in a competition? That’s the part that you chose to pay attention to? Oh gods, my dear Nico, you’re denser than I think you were.”

“You… Just shut up!” Nico could feel his face grows hotter every second passed, and his fingers subconsciously touch his lips. He wants to experience that feeling again… No, damn it! Nico, focus!! “Why did you kiss me? And I’m not dense!”

“Honestly, I have no idea why can you say those two things together without feeling weird.” Anubis shrugs. “You’re such an idiot because you can’t figure out that I kissed you because I like you enough to feel like doing it.”

“…” Nico is so speechless at that casual confession that he couldn’t think for a moment. Did the god just really say that he likes him? Like… _likes him_? With romantic feelings involved?

But why? And how?

“I guess that’s quite too much information for you to process at this moment, so I don’t rush to hear an answer.” Anubis smiles fondly at the smaller boy. “I’ll give you some time to think about it thoroughly. Please don’t make me feel disappointed at my choice of love interest, little demigod.”

…

Five minutes later, Nico still can’t move a muscle of his body, even though the god’s already gone, left him standing in the graveyard alone with a very confusing mind and incomprehensive thoughts flow inside his overloaded brain.

 _Did he seriously just kiss me, confess to me and… leave me here like this?_ Nico’s mind is practically screaming inside. _What the hell is going on?!_

…


	3. No, we’re definitely NOT twins (1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “One day Anubis gets bored and he decides to de-age himself some years, so the God looks exactly like another Nico. He comes to Camp Half-Blood and trouble starts to happen…”

##  _**3, No, we’re definitely NOT twins.** _

**_“One day Anubis gets bored and he decides to de-age himself some years, so the God looks exactly like another Nico. He comes to Camp Half-Blood and trouble starts to happen…”_ **

…

It is a bright sunny day in summer. And in summer, Camp Half-Blood is always noisier, more lively and cramped than any other time of the year. More than half of the demigods here spend their summer at Camp, so it’s also the busiest time for the nymphs to prepare food for them.

And today, a demigod decides that he should help the nymphs at cooking some dishes.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” A nymph asks the black-haired boy, her voice is soft and laced with wary. “There’re so many interesting activities at Camp, you shouldn’t miss them. And it’s just the first week of the summer break so you still have plenty of time.”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine with helping you,” the demigod just smiles brightly at the nymph. “And it doesn’t like I only spend my summer here. I’m here most of the time, actually. But I can choose to stay in the Underworld sometimes so I won’t die because of boredom.”

At this comment, the nymphs decide to say nothing more. They’re happy because every little bit helps, but since it comes from the God of the Underworld’s son, they can’t help but feel slightly worried. There’re rumors that the Underworld has some food that only the children belong there can eat, so they do have good reasons to worry about.

…

Lunch turns out better than anyone thought before.

“Wow, I haven’t tasted anything like that in my life!” A son of Apollo says excitedly. “That’s too delicious! Is that really just chicken? I want some more!”

“Chicken, with some special ingredients,” a nymph answers him when she replaces his empty dish with a new one. “And don’t ask me what are those secret ingredients, because I honestly don’t know.”

The boy raises one of his eyebrows at her. “Really? But I think you’re the one who cooked that.”

“Well, we’ve got some help from one of you guys.” The nymph shrugs. “Bon Apettit.”

She quickly disappears before the boy finishes his question. “So who’s this person? I wanna know!”

…

“It’s weird,” the blonde daughter of Athena stares at her fork. “It’s really weird.”

“Because you don’t think Camp’s food can taste this good?” Percy asks, his mouth is still full of food so his words are a little bit slurred together.

“No,” Annabeth glances at her boyfriend. “This thing is tasty. I just can’t recognize its origin.” She stares at her fork again like the meat did something so bad that’s pissed her off.

“It’s not really a surprise,” Piper laughs at Annabeth’s serious expression. “You’re a walking encyclopedia, but that can’t be about everything, Annabeth. And with all crazy world-saving stuff that you got yourself involved in, you didn’t really have much time to taste all the dishes in the world.”

“I guess you’re right this time,” the blonde sighs and puts the fork into her mouth. “I’ll ignore it and enjoy my meal.”

“That’s my girl,” Percy smirks. “Food is always the first priority.”

“I wish it was a vegetarian dish,” Piper sighs heavily when she finishes her avocado sandwich. “So many people compliment its quality and I can’t have a bite, what a waste.”

“So… how about I make some vegetarian food especially for you tomorrow?” A voice suddenly joins their conversation and Piper slightly startles.

“Nico?” She asks, her eyes widen but then her expression quickly changes into a wide grin. “Long time no see, Neeks! Where have you been? How are you doing?”

“I’m good, thanks for asking,” Nico sits down at the table and high-fives with Percy when he reaches his hand. “Had some Underworld stuff to do last month. Nothing’s extreme.”

“So… did you just say that you’ll make some vegetarian food tomorrow?”

Leo questions suspiciously, but he’s cut off by Percy excited voice. “Wow, that’s new! You just did a high-five with me!”

“… That’s new?” Nico slightly tilts his head to the left side, he looks confused. “I don’t do that often?”

“Seriously? You have never done that before, Nico,” Percy makes a victorious grin. “You hate physical contacts, don’t you remember that?”

“Oh, I still do,” Nico shrugs when he grabs his fork and starts to eat. “Today I’m just being generous.”

“Geez,” Percy pouts, but then his mood is lightened up immediately. “Whatever, I just got a high-five from you and can’t wait till I tell this to Jason. He’ll be green with jealousy.”

“He won’t.” Both Annabeth and Piper say at the same time.

“Because he’s more mature than you, Seaweed Brain,” Annabeth adds in and flashes the Cherokee girl a cheeky smile. Piper winks at her and mouths _‘Nice job, bestie!’_

Everybody just laughs at the son of Poseidon’s sour expression.

Leo raises an eyebrow. “Are you going to answer my question or ignore it, Ghost King?”

“Sorry, what’s your question anyway?” Nico blinks at him innocently. “I forgot.”

“The food,” Leo points at his dish by his spoon. “You made them?”

“Just the chicken,” Nico shrugs. “It’s not a big deal. Found some old recipes when I ran errands for my dad, so I decided to try one of them. I changed the quantity of each ingredient a little bit, so it’s not exactly like the original one I think.”

“So that can explain my weird feeling about can’t find its origin.” Annabeth smiles brightly. “You made this up, didn’t you?”

“Hm, I guess you can say that.” Nico grins at her.

“I’ll wait for a vegetarian dish tomorrow,” Piper stands up and flashes Nico a wide smile before she leaves. “Thank you in advance, Nico!”

“Don’t mention it, we’re friends.” He smiles at her before continuing with his food.

…

Percy meets Jason at the training ground this afternoon and as Annabeth and Piper said, his expression when Percy tells him about the high-five with Nico at lunch is just surprised, because he clearly isn’t jealous at all.

“He really did that? Aw, that’s nice of him,” the son of Jupiter shakes his head in an almost fatherly manner and Percy suddenly wants to run away from this place. “He needs to act like a normal teenager more. Being comfortable with physical contacts is a good sign.”

“He said that today he’s just being generous,” Percy ignores Jason’s weird expression and continues. “I’m not sure about tomorrow, but hey, he promises Piper to make her some vegetarian food for lunch because she can’t eat meat.”

“He does?” Jason raises an eyebrow. “Wow, that’s so thoughtful of him. One more reason why do I like him so much.”

“… Okay, I get it, you like him, and I know it,” Percy wants to escape from the direction that their conversation is going to take, so he decides to change the subject. “Can we focus on our sparring match today?”

“Sounds nice. May I join you guys?” A voice suddenly joins the conversation and Percy nearly jumps up two feet.

“Nico! Please stop that kind of appearing from nowhere and without any sound! You scared me!”

“I did? Sorry, I didn’t mean it at all,” Nico smiles at the son of Poseidon before turns his head toward Jason. “Long time no see, Jason. It’s great to see you.”

“Me too. Brothers hug, shall we?” Jason teases because he just knows how much Nico hates physical contacts, so he’s so surprised when the son of Hades just nods his head and opens his arms.

“Come here ~” His voice is a little bit teasing and before Jason could comment about this, Nico already steps forward and embraces him.

Percy’s eyes are nearly budging out of his sockets. “Wow, that’s… new! I’m speechless.”

Nico releases Jason and winks at the green-eyed boy. “Is it? Told you, I’m being generous today. Don’t waste the chance, do you want a hug or not?”

“If you say so,” Percy shrugs and hugs Nico. “Man, you’re so short. I can place my chin on top of your head and doesn’t it feel nice?”

“Oh, I bet you’re so ready for a loss when we fight today,” Nico immediately gets away from Percy’s arms. “You’re so dead, Jackson.”

…

They end up all sweaty and panting heavily an hour later. Half of the Arena was destroyed too, but not permanently. Nico tells them that he still can fix it and it’ll be back to its normal state at least 80%, and that’s enough.

“Man, what’s the trick that you did when I aimed that whirlpool at you?” Percy questions excitedly when they walk out of the Arena. “It’s not shadow-traveling, I saw it. Your shadows ate my whole whirlpool and left no trace behind. That’s so impressive.”

“I won’t tell you that easy,” Nico teases and winks at Percy playfully. “Figure it out by yourself.”

“Well, shadow and darkness aren’t my expertise, just in case you haven’t noticed.” Percy snorts, that kid is still so damn secretive about almost everything about him.

“I’m hungry,” the son of Hades says instead, deliberately ignores Percy’s curiosity. “Let’s grab something to eat.”

Jason nods at him and walks a little bit faster, he’s starving too. Nico walks aside with him and they start a small conversation. The son of Poseidon begrudgingly walks behind them, still wondering about Nico’s new power.

They come to the dining table pretty quick and Nico immediately takes a plate and starts to fill it with bacon, fries, and beef.

“I’m surprised that after months running errands for your father, this time your appetite gets better, not worse.” Jason notices the amount of food that Nico’s getting for himself and smiles. “That’s a good thing, actually.”

“What should I say?” The son of Hades just shrugs. “I’m so hungry that I can eat a horse. And eating is good for me, with that skinny body, I definitely need to eat more.”

“Today you’re acting strange,” Percy breathes out when he sits down with a full plate and a blue soda on his other hand. “But it’s a good kind of strange, so don’t worry, keep goin’. I support that new you, eating better and doesn’t seem to hate physical contacts that much. It means we can share more hugs and stuff, you know.”

“… Hugs and stuff?” Nico frowns when putting a full spoon into his mouth. He chews, swallows it before continues. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

“I’m a hugger, and Jason is too, don’t you dare deny that,” Percy glares at the blond when he opens his mouth. “So we’re more than welcome you to the club, Nico.”

“I’ll think about it,” the youngest demigod nods and takes another full spoon. “You said that’s new and I agree. Never thought that doing this could be so fun before. I should do it way sooner.”

“I don’t really get what do you mean by ‘doing it way sooner’, but I think I’ll still be supportive about that.” Jason shrugs before taking a sip from his orange juice.

Percy grins after that. “I miss that little ten years old chatterbox I met the first time. You were super annoying, but you’re happier.”

“I’ll try to get that boy back.” Nico looks so thoughtful for a moment before he finishes his plate and stands up. “See you later, I need to get back to my cabin. We haven’t had a shower and to be honest, it’s kind of disgusting.”

“Still a grumpy boy occasionally, but who am I to complain?” Percy smirks. “That’s part of your charms after all.”

“Agree.” Nico nods and leaves the table.

…

“Now I’m certain that he’s acting strange today.” Jason squints at his plate when Nico finally out of the hearing range.

“I know, but as I already said, that’s a good kind of strange, isn’t it?” Percy shrugs. “Maybe he just decided he should try to be less skittish and friendlier with others. Don’t worry too much about it, our kid needs to grow up.”

“Since when did he become our kid?” Jason questions, a confusing look is written all over his face.

“Last time I checked, you’re the one who has a fatherly expression whenever someone praises him, not me.”

“Fair point,” Jason chuckles. “Alright, let’s finish our meal. I really need a shower. Nico’s right, sitting there right after sparring with all the sweat is kind of disgusting.”

“Is that the way you admit that you smell worse than me?” The son of Poseidon teases.

“I smell. You stink.” Jason smirks and stands up with his empty plate. “See you later, _stinker_.”

“You’ll be dead when we have the next match.” Percy groans before cleaning up his own plate and leaving the dining area.

…


	4. A visit to the Underworld (1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short story in which Anubis travels to the Underworld with Nico and he meets Hades, his father, and also another God relates to Death.

##  _**4, A visit to the Underworld (1)** _

**_A short story in which Anubis travels to the Underworld with Nico and he meets Hades, his father, and also another God relates to Death._ **

…

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Nico frowned at Anubis when the Egyptian god was looking around with pure curiosity in his eyes. “My father usually isn’t fond of strangers. You’re a God from another culture. I guess he won’t take the information well.”

Anubis didn’t answer him because he’s too busy playing with a skeleton dog that he just summoned two seconds ago – a jackal, to be more specific. The jackal barked at him and waved his skeletal tail when the god scratched his skull, probably at the place of his left ear. Nico rolled his eyes at that.

“Do you hear me, Anubis?”

“It’s easier to do death magic down there,” Anubis commented, deliberately ignored Nico’s concern. “Oh well, it’s the Underworld after all. The death is basically all around here.”

 _You don’t say_ , Nico slightly shook his head. He had a bigger problem to take care of than focusing on Anubis’ comment. It’s Anubis himself. Seriously, why and how did he find all the patience to put up with that god all the time before?

“And my father is here, too. Unless you really want to witness his anger for an unwelcoming guest, I think you should go back.”

“Oh, c’mon, Nico. Your father is fond of you. He won’t hate the newest best friend of his son that easily.” Anubis winked at Nico and the demigod facepalmed. Again, how the hell he could put up with this irresponsible god until today anyway? He really wanted to come back to the first day they met and strangle that version of him for talking to Anubis at the first place.

“Base on the look on your face, you’re thinking about some ferocious stuff that might involve murders again, right? Geez, I’d better not be the victim this time then.” Anubis grimaced and Nico shot him a very intense glare.

“When you meet my father, you’ll wish that you’re already a victim in my murder plan,” Nico groaned. “That’s still better for your own sake, I’m warning you and I’m dead serious, Anubis.”

“Easy, kitten,” the Egyptian God cackled, ignoring the discomfort on Nico’s face again when he heard the nickname. “He’s a god, just like me. He won’t and he can’t kill me since we’re both experts in the same field. He’s your father, not mine. And now to me he’s just a friend’s dad, not my father-in-law or something like that. You shouldn’t be that scared.”

“Wait, what?” Nico nearly choked on his own words. He didn’t hear it wrong, did he? “Why did you mention something like father-in-law?”

“Meeting with the in-laws for the first time is usually dreadful,” Anubis shrugged nonchalantly. “And Hades isn’t my father-in-law. _Not yet_. So I don’t see any reason why I should be scared as you are now.”

Nico thought he needed to have hazard pay for the hard work he did to deal with Anubis. A lot of hazard pay.

Unfortunately, he didn’t know who will sign that paycheck for him. Maybe Orisis, but Nico still wanted to live so he put all those thoughts aside for the next moment.

“I think you’re missing the point,” Nico pinched the bridge of his nose. “But I don’t really wanna figure out what the heck did you mean, so I demand that we both ignore that problem to focus on another one. I made it clear that I don’t think you should be here any moment longer.”

“I could be at anywhere I want,” Anubis replied him with stubbornness dripped in his voice. “You can’t control my life.”

He dismissed the jackal skeleton and crossed his arms over his chest in a defensive posture. His eyes locked with Nico’s, and the warm brownish black color of melted chocolate made Nico nearly want to melt down and be speechless just for a second before he gained back his tongue.

“I don’t want to either,” the demigod snorted. “I could barely control my own life when supernatural and powerful deities just throw quests and apocalypse and prophecies at us demigods. Or throw themselves at us and refuse to leave us alone, just like what have you done to me.”

“I’ll try to count it as a kind of affection because I know you’re not fully capable of saying sweet words to me,” Anubis winked shamelessly. “You still have a lot to learn, dear.”

Nico opened his mouth to protest, but a piercing shriek echoed in the space. He sighed instead and facepalmed. “Here we come.”

Alecto the fury and her two sisters were flying to their spots with the same ferocious look on their ugly faces. She shouted angrily, “Intruders! We’ve got some intruders!”

“I’m Hades’ son, Alecto, in case you haven’t noticed,” Nico shouted back with irritation. “This place is my home! I’ll never be an intruder!”

The furies looked at each other, seemed confused for a moment before settling down with “INTRUDER!”

Their voices boomed the space and gave Nico a faint headache. He never liked those flying fury ladies, and that’s one of the reasons. The sound they made was like nails scratching on a blackboard, and dear gods that was a very horrible, spine-chilling noise. It made him want to cover his ears and hide in a small room to stay away from them for the rest of his life.

He actively tried to forget the fact that one day when he dies, he’ll come down here to live with his father and deal with them on a daily basis. That’s a depressing thought.

“Are they talking about me?” Anubis even had the audacity to look bewildered at this moment, and Nico felt an urgent and intense need to strangle the god right now.

“Yes, you _idiot_.” Nico breathed out in annoyance, emphasizing the last word with gritted teeth.

“You really need to work on how to use endearing words,” Anubis shrugged, looking so calm as he’s totally unaffected by those ear-deafening sounds the furies were making. “So far all those words you use for me are balanced on the blurred line between fondness and insult.”

“There’s nothing fondly about the word _idiot_ ,” Nico retorted. “Hey, watch your hea–”

“Hey lady, watch your nails!” Anubis yelled when a fury grabbed him by his shoulders and lifted him up to the sky.

“CATCH THE INTRUDER!” She cried in victory and her sisters yelled back, their voices boomed in the air.

“BRING HIM TO LORD HADES!”

“TO THE FIELD OF PUNISHMENT!”

“TO TARTARUS!”

Well, that’s gone too far. Nico decided it’s the moment he needed to raise his voice before those ladies actually brought the Egyptian God to the Greek hell hole.

“Hey, Alecto,” he cleared his throat. “Don’t forget that I’m here. And hi, Megaera and Tisiphone.”

“Master Nico!” Alecto greeted him, but her voice didn’t sound happy at all. “We catch an intruder!”

Megaera and Tisiphone flapped their wings in agreement, their voices shrieked and it made Nico’s ears hurt.

“That intruder is with me, apparently,” Nico sighed. “So I’ll be glad if you could put him down and let us leave.”

“But master Nico, Lord Hades won’t be pleased if we let an intruder go in his realm!” Tisiphone shook her head. “We have to report to him!”

“My father doesn’t need to be aware of a small incident like that,” Nico replied, his voice laced with confidence and dominance in a commanding tone. “Let him go, and let us leave.”

“But I haven’t visited your dad yet!” Anubis chose this moment to interrupt them, and both Nico and Megaera shot him very dirty looks. Nico looked more irritated and annoyed than normal when he ran his fingers through his curly curls, sighing heavily.

“Shut up, Anubis. That’s none of your business.”

“That’s the purpose of that trip!” Anubis protested. “And I won’t leave until I have a chance to see your dad!”

“Lord Hades doesn’t have time for some trouble like you!” Alecto cried out. “He’s so rude, master Nico! Should I leave him with Cerberus so the dog can eat him?”

 _‘I doubt that, they’re both canines after all. If Cerberus eats him, isn’t it cannibalism?’_ Nico thought to himself but opted to leave that unspoken. He said instead. “No, let him down next to me. We’ll leave in the next minute, and please don’t report to my father.”

“Hades needs to know that an awesome god just decided to visit him today!” Anubis interrupted him again. “I want to meet him in person!”

Nico’s patience was really run out at this point. “Anubis, I swear to Gods, if you don’t shut your damned mouth up, I will–”

“Who wants to meet me in person?” Another voice boomed in the hollow space and Nico’s blood ran cold. “Asking for a favour or just simply bored to death, care to let me know?”

“You dad possesses a powerful voice,” Anubis cheerfully commented, and Nico face-palmed, didn’t understand why the god had the audacity to sound excited at this moment. “Nice to meet you, Hades! I’m Anubis!”

“You forget “Lord”!” Megaera gritted her teeth.

“I don’t need to,” Anubis shrugged, when Hades appeared in front of them. “Right, Hades?”

The lord of the Underworld scrutinized them suspiciously, and when his eyes laid on Nico, it softened a little bit and it helped Nico’s rapid heartbeat to calm down. Hades nodded at his son before eyeing Anubis with an unpleasant expression on his face.

After a minute of intense silence, Hades was the first one to break it. “Well, I’m curious what an Egyptian God of mummification and the afterlife is doing in my realm, a Greek version of death?”

“Father, that’s a mistake,” Nico replied him, trying to make his voice sound polite and soothing. “That’s my mistake. I’ll bring him back and won’t bother you anymo–”

“It’s so boring up there so I want to go down and visiting you was a part of the plan,” Anubis casually replied the God of Underworld. “My first impression is you’re charming in a cold and scary way, and now I know where does Nico get that kind of charisma from.”

Nico really wanted to open a fissure and let it swallow him whole down right at this moment.

“I see,” Hades nodded, and when the corner of his mouth curved up into a small smirk, Nico knew there’s no way _in hell_ he would let this slip away easily. “Aren’t you interesting, Anubis? I wonder what could we have in similar to talk about. Follow me, my guest.”

That was a very, very long and exhausted day for Nico.

…


End file.
